Fashion, furniture and the festive season boost John Lewis weekly sales

School holidays for some and the anticipation of the upcoming festive season for others helped UK department store group John Lewis sales rise 2.1% to £85.27m in the week to October 24.

Online led the way, up 9.2% on-year, with strength across all of the Home areas, as Furniture led the way, up 24.7%. Within Fashion, there were some notably strong performances from Beauty, Wellbeing and Leisure, up 24%, and Women’s Accessories, up 23%, noted director of selling David Barford .

In store, Fashion led the way, up 5.9%, with double percentage growth from Collaborations, jumping 48.4%, Swim and Nightwear, up 18.7%, Women’s Casualwear, up 28%, and Women’s Formalwear, up 13.9%.

Home came in at 5% ahead with Furniture leading the way, lifting 7.6%, and Beds and Bedroom, Living, Dining and Upholstery all achieving double percentage increases as customers begin to prepare for winter comfort.

In EHT (electricals) sales were “challenging” and came in 4.3% down, but Small Electrical continues its growth at 5.3% up.

“The [London flagship] Oxford Street Home department refurbishment is delighting our customers from far and wide and the branch has seen an increase in sales from the newly opened areas,” noted Barford.

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